I managed to kill the disguised demon, but the situation is still a mess.
Everyone in the Commander’s Office looked at me with suspicious eyes.
“By the way, how did Captain Karuga know that Commander Babel was a demon?”
“Uh… so, I… ”
Back during the Third Demon Lord War, magical detection spells were not well developed, making it difficult to detect disguised demons unless they were Elf Wizards.
I was at a loss for words, unable to say that I had learned advanced magical detection spells from the future.
“Oh! Speaking of which, didn’t you say that you learned magic from the Elf Wizard last week, Captain Karuga?”
Oh right, my Master did mention that he taught magic to Karuga!
I chimed in with a soldier who seemed to know Karuga.
“Yeah! I learned it then. It was the Elf’s magical detection spell, and with it, I detected the sharp magical energy unique to demons.”
“Indeed…”
“Is that so?”
I recalled from history books that Karuga was one of the few officers who came from a magical background.
Everyone was convinced, thinking, ‘If a magic officer learned from an Elf Wizard, it makes sense.’
Phew… I’m relieved.
“More importantly, we need to resolve this situation ASAP! Everyone, report on the situation! And where are the other squad leaders besides me?!”
I hastily shifted back to the main topic before the conversation went off track.
The Imperial Army was in chaos due to the surprise attack from the demons.
As per the historical achievements of Commander Karuga, I needed to stabilize everything quickly and prepare to fight against the demon army.
“Well… among the units we’ve contacted, besides Captain Karuga, all the other squad leaders up to the 17th unit have been reported dead.”
“What! All dead?!”
“Yes… The surviving sergeants are on their way here, but we haven’t been able to contact the 4th and 6th units since then.”
Hearing that our elite leaders were wiped out made me feel dizzy.
If I hadn’t taken down the disguised demon in this chaos, a civil war could have easily erupted between the Central Army and the Southern Army.
“What about the Central Command? Haven’t they given us any orders?”
“Five hours ago, they lost contact after telling us to refrain from moving recklessly while they assessed the situation.”
“This is crazy.”
While this wasn’t detailed in the history books, I could estimate the situation to some degree.
The Central Command was likely attacked to some extent by the terrorists disguised as demons.
While the situation here in the Southern Army was severe, it seemed they had suffered significant damage and were currently unable to move as they assessed.
“Bean, bring me a crystal ball!”
“Yes?”
“CRYSTAL BALL!!!”
“Got it! Here it is.”
As I shouted, a nearby soldier hurriedly handed me an empty crystal ball.
I pulled out the crystal ball given to me by Karuga and copied its contents into the empty one.
Copying information into a crystal ball was likely high-level magic in this era, as the soldiers in the Commander’s Office looked on in fascination.
Once I finished copying the evidence crystal ball, I handed the duplicate crystal ball to a soldier who looked like a messenger.
“You! Take this to Central Command and inform them of the Southern Army’s situation. Tell them we are currently under attack by demons who can disguise themselves, and that only the Elf’s magical detection spell can distinguish them.”
“Yes! Understood!”
The soldier who received the crystal ball dashed out of the Commander’s Office.
Turning to the remaining soldiers in the Commander’s Office, I said:
“The rest of you will help me restore the command structure of the Southern Army! This is war!! A war against the deceitful demons!!! Everyone, get your heads together!!!!”
[“Yes!”]
At the mention of war, the soldiers’ eyes sparked with determination.
Yes, this was war.
A war where both sides would spare no means to strike each other.
The soldiers, now understanding the situation and becoming more alert, swiftly began to act on my commands.
“First, let’s accurately assess the number of personnel in the units that joined the Southern Army and appoint temporary unit leaders. Then we’ll identify the casualties in the restored units and gather information about the ambushing enemy.”
“Yes! Understood!”
I began directing about ten soldiers from the Commander’s Office as I evaluated the current state of the Southern Army.
Thanks to creating the Galaxy Craft and the Three Kingdoms, I’ve become quite familiar with military documentation and reporting.
The situation was more serious than I had thought.
Responses to each unit were almost non-existent, with only half being able to assess their condition properly.
That demon disguised as Babel really did a number on us.
How could everyone not realize they were demons, despite such neglect in the situation?
While I thought this, a dirty, incompetent development director from my past life who pretended to work hard popped into my mind.
If they acted like that normally, I could see how this might happen.
While I was assessing the units, I noticed that the Elf Wizard squad was missing, so I asked one of the messenger soldiers in the Commander’s Office.
“By the way, where’s the Elf Wizard squad? Haven’t they reported in yet?”
“Ah… um, we just managed to contact a survivor from the 6th unit, and they said they are on their way here. But we haven’t been able to get in touch with the 4th unit since then.”
“They haven’t been in contact?”
“Yes!”
I felt a sinking sensation and looked at the unit roster.
Once I found the list for the 4th unit, I saw various names of Elf Wizards, and one stood out.
“Irene.” The moment I saw that name, I felt like I was going to lose it.
“Ah! Sergeant Allen!! Bring Sergeant Allen here!!!”
“Yes!!”
I shouted urgently.
Just a short while later, Sergeant Allen entered the Commander’s Office.
“Captain Karuga, you called for me!”
“Ah! Yes! Sergeant Allen! From now on, you are the temporary squad leader. Please take charge of this Commander’s Office for a bit.”
“Me?!”
“Yes, I’m going to rescue the abandoned units.”
I quickly grabbed my sword and equipment.
Sergeant Allen looked horrified at my words and tried to stop me.
“It’s dangerous! I should go rescue them instead!!”
“No! If you go, you’ll fall to the demon bastards!!”
Unlike the Captain Karuga squad that aimed to exterminate evidence, other units faced assassinations and attacks, but they had never faced such severe attacks.
However, the Elf Wizard squad had suffered enough damage to be out of communication.
That meant the demons were likely well aware of the dangers posed by the Elf Wizard unit and had made their move with intent.
Sending unarmed soldiers who couldn’t use magic or detect magical power there would only lead to an increase in corpses.
After handing over responsibilities to Sergeant Allen, I headed toward the direction where the 4th unit had lost contact.
“Then, I’ll leave it to you for now! ‘Aeo’!!!”
In an instant, I vanished into the sky using flying magic, and the soldiers in the Commander’s Office watched Karuga’s figure with awe.
“Was Captain Karuga this proficient in magic?”
“I had no idea he could use it so well.”
Later, this scene would be recorded as [The Commander used dimensional magic, or rather flying magic, to save his troops,] a legend that Yuren was completely unaware of.
*
Meanwhile, the scene where the 4th unit was stationed was nothing short of hell.
The trees in the forest were destroyed by fierce magic, rocks were crumbed, and the corpses of Elves and demons were piled high everywhere.
The Elf Wizard unit was supposed to be prepared for deployment in case of demon action, but even they weren’t invincible.
A surprise ambush due to thorough preparation by the demons took them off guard, leading to significant losses among the core combatants.
However, the resilience of the Elves, who had trained magic for hundreds of years, was anything but trivial.
Even in unfavorable situations, they retaliated against the demons and took quite a few of them down with them.
Still, the damage they sustained from the ambush was devastating, and as time passed, the Elves’ magical power diminished.
And now… the life of the last survivor of the Elf unit was on the verge of extinguishing.
“Hah… hah… these pesky little nuisances are really wearing me down.”
“………”
The leading demon soldier spoke to the last Elf Wizard standing before him.
They were well aware of how strong the Elf unit was.
That was precisely why they had planned and executed their ambush to reach this moment.
Now, facing only ten remaining subordinates, the demon leader sighed heavily.
“But it ends here. The long nightmare of the World Tree will end in this spot.”
The demon leader aimed his spear at the last remaining Elf.
If the Elf unit perished, there would be no organization left that could oppose them.
This time, they would finally burn the World Tree, and the long curse that had kept them oppressed in the demon realm would come to an end.
With no magical power left to utter a word, the last Elf stood silent, and the demon leader emotionlessly prepared to throw his spear.
Just as the demon leader and the last Elf were both bracing for an end, a storm of rage descended from the sky.
“’Zeda’!!!”
“What—”
KABOOM!!!
A sudden bolt of lightning struck the demon leader before he could even react, obliterating him into ashes, and when the lightning faded, a silver-haired man holding a sword stood there.
To the last surviving Elf, the silver-haired man who descended amidst the flash appeared like a knight sent from the heavens just for her.
